SALSA VIZCAINA—A VERSATILE SAUCE

Sauce gets its color from dried peppers.

Where I live, in southern Spain, in view of the Mediterranean, I’m a long way from the Bay of Biscay, the Basque province of Vizcaya (Bizcaia), and the city of Bilbao. But I like to revisit that region by recreating some of its iconic dishes. One outstanding preparation is Salsa Vizcaina, or Biscay Sauce.

The most famous dish prepared with vizcaina sauce is bacalao a la vizcaina, salt cod. But, the sauce is incredibly versatile. Use it to accompany grilled fish or as a cook-in sauce for fish fillets. (I used it with frozen cod fillets, baked in the oven.) It’s good with shrimp, mussels or octopus. With snails, tripe or pigs’ feet. With fried eggs. Potatoes in vizcaina sauce are terrific. Use leftover sauce with cooked pasta.

Three kinds of sweet--not hot--dried peppers. 

 The sauce is made with dried red choricero peppers, a type of sweet pepper grown extensively in the Basque Land, Navarra and La Rioja. After rehydrating, the pulp is scraped from inside the peppers and incorporated in a sauce that starts with onions and is thickened with bread. In Spain, the choricero paste can be purchased in jars.

If choriceros are not available, substitute ñora, another sort of dried red pepper. Or try the sauce with a mild chile such as dried red Anaheim peppers. (I used peppers grown and dried by friends in Granada, so perhaps they did not have an authentic Basque accent.) If none of the peppers are available, try stirring 2 tablespoons pimentón (sweet paprika, not smoked) into ¼ cup of water to make a paste. 

Tomato in vizcaina sauce? Traditionalists might say “ez!” (“no!”). The sauce gets its reddish color from the pulp of the red peppers. But, it’s usual to add some tomato as well. Tomato’s sweet-acidity adds a flavor dimension. Another flavor boost, bits of fatty serrano ham, might be included in the sauce, unless it’s being served for vigilia, Lenten meal, or, as at my house, for a vegetarian-pescatarian guest.  

Fillets of cod--not salt cod--sauced with vizcaina, ready for the oven.

Sliced potatoes a la vizcaina are terrific. I baked them, covered, with a little white wine, garlic, salt and pepper until tender, then added the sauce and baked another 10 minutes, uncovered. 

Baked fish with a side of potatoes.

Basque Vizcaina Sauce

Salsa Vizcaina

Makes 2 cups of sauce.

4-6 dried sweet peppers (or ¼ cup pulp)

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups coarsely chopped red onions

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons chopped serrano ham (optional)

1 thick slice stale bread, crusts removed

½ cup grated tomato pulp

¼ cup red or white wine

1 ½ cups water or fish stock

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Remove stems and shake out the seeds from the peppers. Put the peppers in a saucepan and add water to cover. Let them soak 15 minutes. Then bring the water to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the peppers are very soft, 20 minutes. Remove the peppers with a slotted spoon. Reserve the cooking water to use in the sauce.

Scrape pulp from peppers.

When peppers are cool enough to handle, split them open and use a spoon to scrape out the soft flesh. Discard the skins. Place the pulp on a cutting board and chop it finely. (There should be about ¼ cup of pulp.)

Heat the oil in a heavy pan. Sauté the onions on moderate heat until they begin to brown, 8 minutes. Add the garlic and ham, if using. Break the bread into pieces and add it to the onions. Add the tomato pulp and mix it in. Add the pepper pulp.  Add the wine and cook off the alcohol, 1 minute. Add the water from cooking the peppers and/or stock. Season with salt and pepper. 

Sieve the sauce.

Cook the sauce, stirring frequently and mashing up the bread, 20 minutes. Pass the sauce through a food mill or puree it with a blender, then press it through a sieve. 

The sauce keeps, covered and refrigerated, up to a week. Reheat it to serve or spread the sauce in an oven-safe dish with fish or another ingredient and bake.

More Basque cod recipes:

Bilbao Style Cod with Red Peppers.

Salt Cod in Garlic Pil Pil Sauce.

More sauces to serve with fish or vegetables:

Romesco Sauce.

Red Chile Sauce (Mojo Picón)

Galician Ajada Sauce.

Piquillo Pepper Alioli.